Bail hearing for Chinmoy Krishna deferred by a month

A court in Chattogram deferred to January 2 the hearing on the bail petition of Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, the spokesperson for Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote and head of Pundarik Dham in Chattogram, who was arrested in a sedition case.

The bail hearing for Chinmoy Das, which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday (December 3) at the court of Chattogram Metropolitan Session Judge Saiful Islam, has been postponed to January 2 as there was no lawyer to represent him.

The court later set the new date for the hearing as the defence lawyer was absent at the courtroom.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police’s Additional Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution) Mofizur Rahman confirmed this information to the media.

Earlier, on November 26, Chattogram’s 6th Metropolitan Magistrate Kazi Shariful Islam rejected Chinmoy’s bail application in the sedition case and sent him to jail, prompting the members of the Hindu community to stage a protest outside the court.

Chinmoy, head of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon)-run Pundarik Dham Temple in Chattogram, had been speaking out against attacks on minorities across the country since August 5, calling for eight specific demands.

Following a public rally at Chattogram’s Laldighi Maidan on October 25, a sedition case was filed on October 30 against Chinmoy and 18 others at Kotwali Police Station.

Chinmoy was arrested at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport on November 25 in connection with the sedition case.

The news of his arrest sparked protests across several districts, including Dhaka, Chattogram, Cumilla, Khulna, Dinajpur, and Cox’s Bazar.